Cook, Arthur James (1883–1931)

Welsh miners' leader. Born in Wookey, Somerset, he became a coal miner in the Rhondda and a leading figure in the South Wales branch of the Union of Mineworkers. A left-wing socialist, he became general secretary of the national union in 1924 and was one of the miners' leaders during the General Strike of 1926. A powerful orator, he fought successfully to hold the union together after the strike.

In 1928 Cook drew up the ‘Cook–Maxton’ manifesto with James Maxton of the Independent Labour Party, criticizing the Labour Party for abandoning the socialist principles of its pioneers.